The Path of Conquest
by Pendragon2501
Summary: Omae ni mamoru mono aru ka?" Do you have something which you protect? Sess/Kag
1. Was ever woman in this humour woo'd?

Chapter One:

"Sit, boy!" Kagome yelled, thrusting balled-up fists down at her side. "Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit!" She screamed, every time shaking her fists, and every time hearing the pleasant sound of Inuyasha smack down harder and deeper into the earth. "Stupid, ungrateful jerk!" Turning on her heel, she grabbed her quiver and bow and stomped off down the hillside, away from her friends gathered there. "Kirara!" She yelled over her shoulder, calling for the twin-tailed cat to come join her at her side.

"Why does she always do that to me?" Inuyasha groaned into the dirt his body had been spiritually induced to smash in.

"Honestly, Inuyasha," Miroku said, looking all the part of the righteous monk. "do you not think you deserved it?"

"What?" Inuyasha yelled back, jumping up from the ground. "Of course I didn't! I didn't do anything wrong!" He denied, shaking his fist in the air.

"Calm down," Sango said sternly, setting down her empty bowl.

"Hey," Shippo called attention after gulping down another 'faceless octopus'. "Have you guys noticed that every time Kagome makes us a meal Inuyasha ends up getting yelled at? OW!" Shippo yelped, tearing up and rubbing at the spot on his head where Inuyasha had just, non-to-gently, pounded him.

"He has got a point," Miroku murmured absently. Inuyasha merely huffed in response, standing with his arms crossed and looking off into the distance, and the exact opposite direction Kagome had just left.

"You're right. And this meal was actually decent," Sango agreed. "I have to say, Kagome's cooking skills are improving."

Inuyasha mumbled under his breath. "Didn't taste any different to me," The white dog ears on top of his head twitched twice.

Shippo, still upset, let his tongue slip. "You're a dog! You eat table scraps! What would you know about good food?"

"I know plenty, you little―" Inuyasha started yelling back as Miroku and Sango stated there own conversation.

"So what do you think Kagome wanted with Kirara?" Sango asked, leaning over to Miroku as she bit into a rice ball.

"Who knows? She can't possibly be planning to go back home through the well, could she?" He inquired, leaning in just a much as she did.

"No way! She just got back today. She wouldn't go back again this soon, and especially not without telling us first."

"Well she was pretty mad," Miroku let the thought float in the air before continuing. "She could do anything."

At that the two looked back over at the still bickering Shippo and Inuyasha.

"Do not!" Shippo denied, waving a small fist in the air, his demon-fox tail bristled and angry behind him. "I bet you lap out of Kirara food bowl when nobody's looking!"

"Why you!" Inuyasha yelled, raising a clawed fist in the air.

"Enough, you two!" Miroku said. "Kagome's already mad enough for all of us; let's stop with the fruitless violence."

As he and Sango rose up from the ground she asked him a question. "Miroku, Kagome left with Kirara, they could be anywhere by now. How are we going to find her? Inuyasha can't track them if they fly."

"Don't worry Sango," Miroku soothed. "All will be fine. Kagome will come back once she's calmed down. We just have to be patient."

"You're right," Sango said, looking up into his blue eyes. "We'll just―" Sango felt every ounce of her blood drain away as Miroku's cursed right hand found purchase on her tender flesh.

The slap across his face resounded throughout half of feudal Japan.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" The young mortal girl called ahead after her stomach had, rather violently, informed her of her state of hunger.

The man walking ahead of his small entourage halted without response.

"Lord Sesshomaru! May I please go find something to eat? I heard a stream not to long ago. I could go fish and be back before sundown," The bubbly young girl asked, leaning forward on the back of the two-headed yokai she rode upon.

His answer was long coming. "Do as you please, Rin. It is of no concern to me," His still body never turned toward her by any degree, not even his head turned to project back his voice. The perfectly calm and polite yet commanding tone of it didn't echo, but dominated the forest around them. Every singing bird, every twig-snapping animal, every crawling insect seemed to instinctively pause at the sound of his voice. Even the wind itself seemed to bow for a moment to the young dog lord.

Without another word he began walking forward again. Rin climbed down from the back of Ah-Un demon and rushed off into the woods toward the unheard mountain stream.

The small green demon in Sesshomaru's following turned his head as Rin dashed off. _That wretched girl, running off again like that! Doesn't she see the stress it puts on our lord?!_ The imp's forehead creased as he glared after her. Once she had disappeared in the undergrowth a new thought appeared to him. _Then again, if any misfortune falls upon Rin…_ A thick bead of sweat ran down across his temple. He imagined Sesshomaru; eyes red as fresh human blood, jaws disfigured in canine ferocity, poison dripping from tooth and nail… A big gulp caught in his now-swollen throat.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" Jaken's high-pitched voice piped up to his master's ears.

"Yes?" Sesshomaru replied, not slowing down in the least as his zealot of a follower stumbled along behind him, carrying the gnarled staff that dwarfed him. "What is it, Jaken?"

"My Lord, surely you don't, I mean, do you possibly intend to," The imp-yokai stumbled over the words, trying desperately not to sign his own death warrant with the wrong word phrasing. Sesshomaru stopped again without a word. Jaken cringed behind his staff; the carved face of the beautiful woman pointing up in Sesshomaru's direction.

Sesshomaru turned slightly to the left, the pelt he wore over his right shoulder not making a sound as he shifted. Half-turned, his severed left limb was noticeable next to the two swords he kept at his hip. The swords clinked together once, giving off the odd sound of cursed steel on a demon-wood sheath.

He said not a word, not even looking down at the ardent little imp. The visible half of his face was unmoving as a statue, marble-like in its stillness. Two thin magenta streaks ran from ear to mid-cheek, cutting through flawless skin. Ivory white hair spilled down over his shoulder. Thin stands of it twisted over his eye, fragmenting the liquid topaz. Those eyes focused off into the far distance of the forest. Adding to the effect of his eyes was the thin crescent moon situated exactly in the middle of his forehead. An ominous aura seemed to pulse around him, contacting like a frantic heartbeat.

"Jaken, you waste my time," His voice was crystal clear, but soft a precious silk.

"My lord, I only meant to say, to _ask_" The beads of sweat on Jaken's face now came down in streams. "do you intend on letting young Rin go off alone, again, my lord?" Sesshomaru's only reacting was so turn another mere tenth of a degree toward Jaken, who jumped a little, knocking himself as well as his staff off-balance, sending them both to the ground.

Pushing up from the ground with tiny arms Jaken babbled again, "Lord Sesshomaru, I only mean to notify you, no, I mean to," ― Jaken was now crawling slowly backwards ― "I simply am _offering_," ― The imp's head slowing bobbed up and down as he thought of a track of words that would less likely get him killed ― "offering my protection to young Rin. After all, last time she went off alone she was nearly _devoured_ by demons." His head continued to bob slightly up and down as he waited for his master to respond.

Sesshomaru turned back ahead and continued walking. "Do as you wish, Jaken. I could not care less."

Scrambling to his feet, Jaken picked up his staff and began to quickly walk backwards, bowing as he did so. "Thank you, my lord, thank you." Sesshomaru didn't respond. Jaken stumbled over a tree root and then took off running into the forest after Rin, pulling Ah and Un along after him.

"Unthoughtful, inconsiderate jerk. I spend all day making that stupid food, adding in his favorites just to please him, and what does he do? Criticize it!" Kagome stomped through the forest, Kirara skirting at her heels, looking up at her with what looked like cat-like concern. "'This meat is too chewy, Kagome. This chicken is too spicy, Kagome, what ya trying to do, kill my tongue?'" Kagome mimicked as she broke into a clearing, sticking out he tongue just as he had done and talking through it. She stomped once on the ground and turned back in the direction she had come. "Well then, why don't you get Kikyo to make your meals from now on?!"

She looked down at the miniscule little twin-tail at her feet. "Come on, Kirara. We don't need them. Let's go back to the village," The little cat mewed at her ankles. "Inuyasha's such a jerk," She said, shoving the strap of her quiver higher up on her shoulder. A dull knock sounded when her bow clicked against the quiver. "He's not going to get off easy this time. That was completely uncall―"

"You're in my way," A male, aristocratic voice called from across the clearing.


	2. “Look like the innocent flower but be th

Chapter Two:

"I said, you are in my way," Sesshomaru repeated, looking steadily at Kagome, who seemed to be stuck in the "deer-in-headlights" state. Kirara looked up from Kagome's ankles and mewled once at the dog lord.

"I say this for the last time," Sesshomaru reached down for his blade, his hand clasped loosely, but firm on the grip. "You are in my way. Move now or die."

Kagome stared blankly for a moment. Sesshomaru slowly slid his blade halfway out. Needless to say, she got over her paralysis quickly after that, backing up as fast as she could until she bumped the back of her head into a tree.

"Ow!" she jumped around at the tree, rubbing her bump and staring at the tree like it had assaulted her.

Sesshomaru replaced his sword and continued his pace across the clearing. He had nearly crossed back into the forest before Kagome said anything.

"Hey, wait!" She piped as she took a step toward him. He kept walking. "Hey, no, stop!" She said, starting toward him, gaining speed with each step. "Wait!" She caught up with him but kept her distance. "Hey, where's that little girl?" She asked, looking around. "Where'd she go? And what about Jaken?" She asked, leaning forward so as she could see his face. "Hey! Are you even listening to me?"

Sesshomaru stopped walking, causing Kagome to stop as well. Slowly his head turned, throwing his golden-eyed gaze back at her.

A normal human would have quivered in fear from such a gaze, their knees giving out beneath them as they fell into a life-sparing plea as they bowed at his feet. This girl was not a normal human. No she met his gaze steadily, examining him. _Wow, I'd never noticed. His eyes are darker than Inuyasha's. Deeper. Richer. _

Sesshomaru stared back just a steadily, his face straight and unmoved.

"Well?" Kagome extended her neck a little as her head cocked to one side. "Are you going to answer my question?"

Sesshomaru slowly blinked. "Questions."

"What?" She answered, her head cocking a bit more.

"You have asked me more that one question. Four, in fact."

Kagome stared back, eyebrows creased. _I guess I hadn't really expected him to answer at all._ Her eyebrows creased a bit deeper before her face fell. _Wait a minute! This guy could kill me. What was I thinking?_

"I will not indulge you." Sesshomaru said in his same ever-even tone. His chin tilted up slightly. "Do not treat yourself to such ludicrous delusions as such." With that he turned back and continued into the forest.

Kagome stared after him, her mouth hanging open slightly. _What was I thinking?_ The question repeated in her mind. _Am I some kind of masochist?_ She looked down at the twin-tail skirting around her feet, nuzzling her face against her ankles as she crept by. Kirara looked up into the school girls eyes, mewling her response to Kagome's unspoken question.

"Damn it!" Inuyasha hissed, pounding his fist into the floorboards. "Where is she?"

"My, my Inuyasha, you seem anxious today," The old woman stirring the stew pot spoke with her eye closed. A few damp steamed gray hairs dangled down on one side off her face, over her eye patch. "Don't tell me you're this worried about Kagome."

"You stay out of this, old hag!" He shouted over his shoulder, punching the floor again.

"Fine, but you _will_ repair any damage to my floor," She added, switching from clockwise to counter-clockwise stirring. The aroma of the stew hung in the air like a scented fog, making Inuyasha wrinkle up his nose. He grumbled to himself for a while.

Miroku played with the prayer beads around his hand and Sango cleaned her boomerang-like weapon. Shippo hopped up and down on the balls of his feet, looking into the stewpot.

"Do you think they ran into some kind of trouble?" Sango asked. She gently glided a bar of wax across her Hiraikotsu. "Maybe we should go looking for them?" She announced the offer like a question.

"And what good would that do, my dear Sango?" Miroku said, accepting a bowl of stew from Kaede. "Where should we look? We very may have to search the skies for them. It's best if we just wait here."

"But what if something happened to them?"

Miroku looked up through the stew's steam at Sango's face. "I'm sure no harm shall befall them."

Shippo looked back at them, eyes slanted. "This is Kagome we're talking about."

Everyone one was quite for a moment, no one so much as looking at one other. Inuyasha broke the silence, breathing out a heavy sigh and standing up from his crouch. With his back turned to them, he spoke. "I need some air."

With that he walked out of Kaede's home, disappearing into the night.

"We probably should be getting back, huh, Kirara?" Kagome sat side-saddle on Kirara back. The transformed twin-tail walked across the moonlit river side. Her flame-tipped paws glided over the sand of the river's shore, leaving behind her tell-tale prints. "Everyone must be worried about us." She looked up at the moon for the millionth time, comparing the feudal version to her own back home. Marking the clear patched where she knew craters would one day be.

She felt a slight breeze picking up, blowing her raven hair around her face. Looking down, she realized where the wind had come from. Kirara glided gently over the river now, here front paw tips lightly grazing the water's surface, sending rippled out to distort the reflected night sky. Wisps of steam came from where her flaming paws touched the water. A light mist sprayed up from the river, spaying across the two.

Kagome looked out across the river, with its stolen starlight reflection back at her. The river was still and calm, nothing sounded around them. The forest trees were calm and dark. Everything seemed serine and peaceful. She took in a deep breath, loving how clean and fresh in was. _I love it here. _She thought to herself. In her head it even seemed to be a whisper. _It's so late. _She thought, looking at the position of the moon hanging in the night. _We should get back. I guess it's time to face him. _She sighed out her breath. "Okay, Kirara, let's go."

"Going so soon?" Chills rushed through her body at the sound of the voice. It oozed out like slime, the thick liquid consistency of the sound dribbling like some disgusting fluid.

The demon looked at her through cold, icy eyes that looked to be glazed over with death. Muck dripped down from its jaws, crashing in the river. Its languid, scaled body writhed in the water, striking like a water-snake.

Her screams pierced the night like the cries of bleeding angels.


	3. They do not love that do not show their

Chapter Three

"Hi, there!" A sing-song voice said excitedly. Kagome blinked her eyes for a moment, taking in the young girl with the bowl and rag kneeling above her. "I'm Rin. I think we've met before, but nothing much of an introduction, huh?"

"Wha-what's going on? Where's Kirara?" She bolted up, adrenaline crashing.

"Careful!"

No sooner than Rin had spoken a wave of exhaustion hit Kagome, almost causing her to faint. Pain racked every inch of her body. Her eyes fluttered and cold heat rushed down her spine, leaving her feeling lightheaded.

"Careful." Rin repeated, easing her back down. "You fell into the river, remember? You have a really bad fever. And I think you might have hit your head."

_That would explain the headache. _Kagome cringed as she felt at the swollen knot on her head. "What happened? Where am I?"

"You're in a cave." Rin answered as if it wasn't the most obvious of things, what with the limestone walls and far-off dripping noises. "We brought you here last night."

"We?" She asked as Rin placed a cool cloth over her forehead.

"Lord Sesshomaru, Ah-Un, me and Master Jaken."

"What happened to me?" Kagome swiveled her head, looking off at the faint glow that marked the caves opening.

Rin stood to her feet, her little cherubim smile still lining her face. "Well, last night we were walking, looking for a place to stop and rest for the night, and we came across the river. We heard you. You were screaming." Her smile faded as she walked over to the small fire she had going a few feet away from Kagome. "I was scared. Lord Sesshomaru looked at me." Her eyes went starry as she stoked the burning coals; rising embers spiraled around her face, setting a molten glow to her dark eyes. "He looked at me. Then he started running. Ah-Un chased after him. "

"When we got there you were falling. You fell off the cat, you called her Kirara, right?" Kagome nodded. "well you fell off her and into the water. You were swept in the current; it knocked you into some rocks. Kirara tried to save you, but the demon." She looked back at Kagome.

"The demon bit her. she tried to fight it off, but the serpent was venomous and she couldn't fight. It kept on biting her, over and over." Silent tears ran down both the girls' faces. "Ah-Un pulled you out of the water and brought you to shore. Right after that Kirara fell out of the sky, the serpent wrapped around her, squeezing her. She crashed into the river bank. Lord Sesshomaru killed the demon. Kirara didn't move.

"Lord Sesshomaru looked really angry. He kept staring at his sword, like he was thinking really hard. Then..." Rin thought back. She remembered the cat, its blood washing away in the tide, staining the sand crimson. It whimpered in pain, looking at Kagome, its paw twitching as it strained to move. And Lord Sesshomaru with Tensaiga. A flash of blue light.

"Kirara is alright now. She's outside now."

"She's alright?" Kagome looked back at the cave mouth.

Rin stood, brushing dirt odd her checkered orange and yellow kimono. Thin green circles dotted across it. "She's fine. She's been wandering back and forth between you and the outside. She watched your bow and arrows. We have them drying outside.

"Anyway, you need some rest. I'll let you sleep. If you need anything I'll be right here.

Kagome looked up at the cave ceiling, watching the light from the flames flicker across its surface. Soon enough her eyes grew heavy and sleep overcame her. Vivid dreams came to her. Dreams of blue light and deep amber eyes.

"I'm getting very worried, Kaede. It's been nearly two days and there's still no sign of Kagome or Kirara." Sango said, sitting down in the old miko's home.

"Fear not, child. Kagome is a strong young woman. No harm to great shall befall her." Kaede answered, sweeping the dust and dirt from her home out the threshold.

Sango face was forlorn. "That doesn't make the worry any less great. Something must have happened. Inuyasha already went through the well. Her family says they haven't heard from her."

"It is of no cause to fret. She shall show up on her own accord. Give her time; we both know the pain she suffers." The two women looked at each other, their eyes clicking together in understanding. Kagome had given up her youth for Inuyasha. She came to restore the jewel, yes, but she stayed for Inuyasha. The hanyou held her heart in his hands, and with each passing day his claws dug in a little deeper.


	4. Such men as he be never at heart's ease

Chapter Four:

"What do you mean she hasn't come back yet!?" Inuyasha yelled, smashing his fists into the tree beside him, leaving a splintered dint.

"See?" Miroku murmured. "That's why I said to do this outside. Kaede would have cursed us all if Inuyasha had destroyed her home"

"Inuyasha," said Sango. "You've been looking for her for three days now. Let's put this of a little longer. Maybe she'll show up in an hour or two. Why don't you come in and rest, eat something, and maybe take a bit of a..."

He cut her off. "I'm not tired; I'm sure as hell not hungry. I just want to know where Kagome is. Now." He said it through gritted teeth.

"How are we gonna do that?" Shippo asked, his voice a tilting toward 'almost-cheerful'.

Inuyasha glared back at him, claws out, teeth barred, and a subtle hint of red seeping through the whites of his eyes. A low growl permeated the hillside.

Shippo sank back.

"Could she still be so angry?" Sango thought out loud. "She's not one to hold a grudge for so long. And Kirara would have come back by now."

"What an idiot!" Inuyasha yelled, smacking the tree again. This time it cracked through, sending splinters of wood flying. "Running off like that, what was she thinking?"

"She was upset because of you. It was your fault she left. You're such an idiot." Shippo mumbled from Miroku's shoulder. Very gently the young monk lifted the fox demon off him and to the ground, and then subtly went to stand on the other side of Sango.

The hanyou contemplating ripping out the young fox yokai's internal organs with his teeth.

"I'm going to look for her again." He muttered, turning away from them.

"You just finished looking for her!" Sango called after him. "You need to rest!

"Inuyasha!" Miroku yelled, his brow slightly creased in agitation.

"Idiot." Shippo scoffed.

"I'm still sick?" Kagome said it in a disbelieving tone. _Well for once, Grandpa wouldn't have to lie if I were home._ She took a deep breath and then cringed as it agitated the large, yellow-blotched bruise on her chest.

"You're still sick." nodded Rin, dipping cloth into the bowl from before. She had mentioned that the cool water came from the spring at the mountain summit. How she got up there so many times a day was a mystery to Kagome.

"How long has it been?" Time seemed immeasurable. She slept all day, and coughed all night. Her fever peaked and simmered low, the darkness of the cave not letting her see the passing of the days. The only hint of the outside world was the faint glow of day that hinted at the cave's mouth.

Rin looked up, her mouth twisted to the side. "Um, it's night now. Five days? Maybe?"

_Five days._ The thought hung over her head like an ominous cloud. _The others must be so worried about me. What am I gonna do?_

"Here." Rin smiled, laying the cool cloth on Kagome's fevered head. "A good heat suits you. The blush is very pretty." She stood and walked back over toward the fire. "Are you hungry?"

"No."

"You need to eat. I'll go find something."

"Master Jaken?" Rin called, stepping out from limestone and into soft grass. "Master Jaken?

"What s it Rin? He squawked back in his habitually impatient tone of voice. "I'm sleeping." His minuscule little body slumped down against the roots of a large tree, staff lain across his small lap.

"Sorry," She whispered. "I was just going to say I'm going to try to find something to eat."

"That's all that you woke me up for?" He piped. She ignored him.

"Maybe some fish. Does Kagome like fish?" Her finger tapped against her chin as she wandered into the woods. "Ah-Un!" She called back. The twin-headed yokai woke and followed her. Her small hand hung on its scaled hide.

"Jaken." A heady voice called. Eyes wide, Jaken looked to Sesshomaru standing to the side of the tree he slumped against.

"Y-yes, my lord?"

"Go with Rin." He said simply, turning and walking away.

"Y-yes, my lord." He repeated, rumbling to his feet and scurrying off.

"Wake up."

Kagome's eyes flashed open. "Who's there?" She voice into the shadowed darkness that the flame light seemed unwilling to purge.

"Tell me something." The voice commanded.

She stared into the darkness, the faint silhouette of a tall figure was all she could make out.

"What is it about you?" The voice asked. "What makes other want to guard your life?"

Kagome stopped for a moment, her mind not comprehending the question.

"Will you not tell me?"

"I-I do not understand the question." She gave back.

"You share this trait with young Rin. She too is prone to vexing ward. So tell me why you both can invoke such protection from others?"

"I don't know."

"You do not?" Sesshomaru walked into the dim light. "That's not an answer."

"Kagome swallowed against her dry throat. "That's because I do not have one." She coughed twice in to her hand, each time her body convulsed at the attempt.

Sesshomaru looked into the fire. "Then answer me this."

Kagome looked up at him, watching the fire dance in his amber eyes. "Yes?"

"Are you Inuyasha's mate or not?"

Kagome sat up, the effort sapping her of all strength. She leaned against the cave wall, its coolness seeping into her. She felt beads of moisture seep into her clothes, helping to wash away the overwhelming heat inside of her.

She thought back to the first time she had ever fallen into the Bone-Eater's well. The first time she had met Inuyasha and the ache of her heart since then.

"No."

Sesshomaru looked at her out of the side of his eye. "I say this now. I have no intention of waiting here until you die, though the prospect may surely be coming. I offer you a simple choice here and now. Get well, or die alone."


	5. All hell shall stir for this

Chapter Five:

"You're fever broke last night." said Rin, smiling down at Kagome as she woke. "Isn't that great?"

Kagome's twitched her lips up at her, still too exhausted. "That's great." _Now I don't have to die her_e... she gave as an aftethought.

"Hmm," Rin tilted her head. "You're voice is really weak. Here drink some water and get some rest." The small girl held the bowl to Kagome's lips.

The cool water was ecstasy to her, like artic water in the Sahara. It surged down her throat only too fast.

"Okay, okay. Now lay down here." Rin laid her hand on the back of Kagome's neck and helped her back down to the floor.

"I do feel a little bit better." Kagome wheezed out. Her voice was dry and breathy.

"That's good. Maybe you'll be up on your feet by tomorrow."

"Maybe." Kagome repeated as her eyes slid shut.

"Tell me, Rin," said Sesshomaru, lying down against a tree, his eyes closed. "How is the young woman?"

"Kagome is doing great, Lord Sesshomaru! Her fever broke, and now she's sleeping."

Sesshomaru chin tilted down in his interpretation of a nod. "We leave tomorrow."

_There it is!_ _It's old, but it's Kagome. _Thought Inuyasha, running along side a river. _And blood...old blood_. Inuyasha followed the scent, coming to a river bank. "Kirara." He thought out loud, looking at the rust-colored sand and smelling the feline scent of blood. _But that other scent..._ His brows shadowed across his eyes and his teeth bit down until they punctured his lip. _I'll kill him!_ His guttural roar sent birds flying.

"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha yelled, bursting in the clearing. His older brother looked at his for less than a second from his perch on the ground. Kirara, lying next to him lifted her head to the dog-eared young man. She settled back a moment later without a sound.

"Hnn."

"Where's Kagome! Where did you take her! I swear if you..." Sesshomaru cut him off.

"Why do you care, hanyou? She is of no consequence to you. She's said as much."

"What the _hell_ does that mean?" Inuyasha yelled, taking a grip of Tetsusaiga's hilt. "Where is she, Sesshomaru!"

"Inuyasha?" A female voice called.

"Kagome!"

She came stumbling out though the underbrush. Her eyes looked bruised and swollen, her face pallor. Healing bruises showed on and uncovered skin.

"What did you _do_ to her?!" Inuyasha yelled, pulling Tetsusaiga from its sheath. It slid out in a yellow flash, the tarnished metal expanding and gleaming silver, the guard blossoming with a coat of thick white fur. The same fur as the pelt draped over Sesshomaru's shoulder.

"Inuyasha, stop." Kagome rasped, her voice cracking to a broken breath.

"What?" Inuyasha turned to her, Tetsusaiga still poised.

"He didn't hurt me. He saved my life. I've been sick. I'm sorry Inuyasha; I couldn't get back to you." She stumbled over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You were sick so you came to _him?_" Inuyasha stared at her incredulously, his white dog ears flicking. "What were you thinking, Kagome?"

"Well first we got attacked by that demon..."

"What demon?!" Inuyasha yelled, a vein pulsed at his temple.

"A demon attacked me and Kirara. Sesshomaru saved us." Kagome answered, her face serene. "Then I got sick. I'm sorry if you were worried."

His eyes narrowed. "I wasn't worried, Sango was." He paused for a moment, "And Sesshomaru saved you? Somehow I doubt that."

"What do you mean you weren't worried?" Kagome's voice pitched. "I've been missing for days."

She seemed to have forgotten her sore throat...

"So what? I knew you were okay." Inuyasha huffed, lowering Tetsusaiga. "You're fine now. So what's that big deal?"

"The big deal? I've been sitting in a dark cave for a week coughing my lungs up, that's the big deal!" With the hand she'd had placed on his shoulder she pushed him away. "Oblivious nonchalance suits you Inuyasha." She turned away from him and huffed, a superior sneer on her face. He gaped at her, eyebrows cocked.

Sesshomaru stood up from the ground and began to walk away.

"Where the hell do you think your going?" Inuyasha called after him.

Sesshomaru did not deter to acknowledge him. "Your tedious conversation is of no concern to me."

"Now wait a minute!"

Sesshomaru froze.

"Now that's what-"

Sesshomaru turned around, his eyes fading to scarlet, magenta streaks expanding. Strands of ivory hair seemed to blow in an unfelt breeze. "_You_ are in no respect to order _me, _you disgusting half-breed." His canines grew out from under his lip..

"The hell I'm not, you bastard." Inuyasha laughed, raising Tetsusaiga.

Sesshomaru's claws dripped green. "You consider me illegitimate when you, by birth, are irrefutably a bastard? Your very nature deems it to be so."

"Morons." Kagome huffed again and began walking away.

"What?" Inuyasha's head swiveled. "Kagome!"

She paused and stomped her foot. "What?!" She yelled, pivoting around. "Whatever it is I don't want to hear it, Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha growled softly. "Listen, Sesshomaru," He said, turning to the taiyoukai. "I don't have time for this. I'm leaving with Kagome."

"Hnn." By now the dog lord had regained control, and his eyes had faded back to white, though his green acid still coated his claws.

Inuyasha walked over to the fuming young woman. "Let's go, Kagome." He ordered, grabbing her sleeve and dragging her.

"Let go! Hey, let go of me!" She yelled, beating against him with her other arm.

"Shutup, and c'mon!" He ordered dragging her with one hand and his behemoth sword with the other.

"Inuyasha, stop!"

"No, Kagome. We're leaving."

"Inuyasha..." Something in her tone hung around them, like that unexplainable feeling before a storm.

"Kagome..." His voice came out in a whisper, almost pleading.

"Sit, boy!"

The mass of red cloth smashed into the earth with a loud crash. A low whine reverberated through the powdered rocks.

"You ripped my sleeve!" Kagome yelled, looking down at the torn cloth.

"What the hell, Kagome?" Inuyasha sputtered, yanking himself up out of his own small ditch. "What was that for?"

"For not stopping!" She yelled at him.

"We have to go back to the village!" Inuyasha screamed back at her, raising his arms, as well as Tetsusaiga, into the air.

"Why?" Her eyes were slanted at him, their chocolate brown turning to molten lava.

"Do you _want_ to stay here with Sesshomaru?"

"He'd be better that you!"

He stopped at that, his dark brows shadowing over his eyes. "What?"  
"I'd rather stay with him with you! He doesn't scream at me day and night!" Her hands turned to fists at her side.

"You're the one screaming at me!"

"I am not!"

"You know what? Fine! Stay with him!" Inuyasha raised is sword and sliced through the tree next to him with a yell. "See if I care." He walked off in a straight line, hacking though anything in his path.

Kagome's angered fizzled out and the guilt of what she'd said set in. _He'll never forgive me..._ She turned to find Sesshomaru. The taiyoukai had turned to walk back toward the cave, his ivory pelt dragging behind him, along with Kirara.

She followed them without a word.


End file.
